Chapter 56: Gotham’s Evening Bell (Part 1)

Silence echoed in the empty room. Finally, Batman said: "From that day on, everything I did and all the hardships I went through were for revenge."

"The law and the trial told me that it was Joe Chell who killed my parents, but I knew that was not the case. I spent years to make myself capable of questioning this result."

"... and now, it's time for Bat's revenge."

Accompanied by the dull evening bells of the Gotham Cathedral bell tower, Batman disappeared.

The recent changes in the Edward family made Batman, who was always monitoring the entire Gotham City, discover that before the Edward brothers became rich, when they just came to Gotham, they were the leaders of the alley where his parents died.

But now, the Edward brothers are dead, leaving only their nephew, and little Edward has offended the Godfather. If Falcone is unwilling to let him go, then the Edward family will no longer exist.

Batman first found little Edward. He didn't need to send people to invite people like the Godfather. He could directly appear in the shadows behind anyone.

The next day, Gotham was filled with gloomy fog again. Later in the evening, dusk added more colors to the hazy fog over Gotham.

Schiller was chatting with the priest at the door of the church. He was like an authentic Westerner, going in and out of the church on time, without any disobedience.

The priest here was very knowledgeable, and he had a deep understanding of theology. Schiller liked to talk to him about philosophy and theology, and at the same time, he could also learn about intelligence.

The old priest had lived in Gotham all his life, experienced all the eras of Gotham, and knew all the stories here.

The priest said: "Recently, the workers at the docks have not come here often. Maybe their business has improved. I hope so. God tells people that they need to use such hard work to atone for their sins."

"Recently, the number of merchant ships at the docks has increased, and the business of cargo ship owners has also improved." Schiller said.

"I remember that many years ago, there was a period when many workers liked to come here to pray. The church had never been so lively."

The old priest's voice carried the unique mark of the times, like a railroad track laid from history, old and faded.

"You can see that they were not busy at that time, maybe because there was not much business. Many people were complaining, some were very angry, and some had quarrels. I tried my best to dissuade them."

"You are a good person." Schiller said.

The old priest squinted his eyes and recalled, "In that era, there was chaos everywhere. I remember that the one who dominated the docks at that time was a man named Leif. He was not easy to mess with. People called him the bearded man, and some called him a Viking pirate."

"He was burly and strong, with a beard, and brought a dozen equally strong men with him. They were rampant at the docks, and no one dared to mess with them. They specialized in collecting protection fees from workers and extorting others."

"What happened later? Who sanctioned them later?"

"It was Falcone. The Godfather gave him a hard time."

The priest stroked his fingers that were a little dry due to old age, and said: "Originally, the Godfather should have taken over those docks, but somehow , but it finally fell into the hands of the Edward family. "

The priest shook his head and said, "I'm not saying that the Edward family is not good at management, but perhaps, if the Falcone family had taken over the docks, the entire East District would have been connected in a line, and the Falcone family would have been much stronger than it is now."

"I often hear people say..." Schiller said, "The Godfather's control over the East District is a little weak, because he only controls some areas in the northeast and southeast, and leaves the most important part of the docks alone."

The priest shook his head and said, "Maybe he has his own plans."

Schiller thought, these things the priest told him were not secrets, and the reason why they were not widely circulated was that not many people survived that era.

Of course, as to why the Godfather did not control the docks in one go, Schiller guessed that there might be more complicated disputes.

After it got dark, Schiller said goodbye to the priest and walked out of the church alone.

When the last ray of sunset light sank below the horizon, he heard seven heavy consecutive rings from the church bell tower above his head, and the bells carried an indescribable atmosphere of decline.

The priest made a cross on his chest in front of the church door and whispered: "This is the death knell... God bless you, your soul will be free..."

Schiller stood outside the door. He turned around and saw a black and yellow figure standing on the tall bell tower in the dark gray haze.

On the other side, little Edward collapsed on the ground, facing the shadow with two pointed ears in front of him, he trembled and said: "I only know... I only know that... the Godfather ended the chaotic situation in the eastern docks, and my father and uncle wanted to get a share of it, even if they could only get one dock..."

"But, but the Godfather suddenly didn't want any of them... So, our family got all five docks, I don't know what happened... I was too young at that time, you can only ask the Godfather, I really don't know anything..."

After the shadow of the bat left, little Edward trembled and climbed up from the ground. He cursed in a low voice, and suddenly he saw another shadow in front of him.

He looked up and saw a huge umbrella facing him. Behind the umbrella, a sinister eye was staring at him. Edward was about to scream in fear, but his vocal cords and throat were cut off.

After a slight sound, the sound of heavy objects falling to the ground accompanied by the lights in Edward's old house went out, and everything became quiet.

In the end, Batman still came to Falcone's mansion, which was dark and quiet as if no one existed.

Unlike Edward's old house, which was brightly lit and guarded all night, the mansion where the Godfather of Gotham lived seemed to have no defense force. Batman knew this was abnormal.

Finally, Batman met him in Falcone's office. There was still no one here. Falcone seemed to be waiting for him, sitting alone in the office in the early morning.

"I knew you would come," said Falcone. "You were not careful enough when investigating old Edward's resume."

"That means there must be something special about his resume that is worth your concern." Batman said.

"Indeed, are you interested in hearing stories from many years ago?"

Then, Batman learned from the godfather who had ruled Gotham for forty years about the turbulent times he had never seen or heard of.

"...They called their friends together and were ruthless. Among them, the Viking pirate Leif had the greatest power."

"I know very well that if I want the Falcone family to really gain a foothold here, I must start with him."

"The bearded man made a lot of money by extorting ship owners for many years. He was not convinced and wanted to resist me."

"So, I killed all his family members in front of many people, and then stuffed him into a powder keg."

"Of course, that scared a lot of people and made my plan go smoothly."

"What I want to know is about Park Street," said Batman.

"Don't worry, we'll be there soon."

Falcone turned his chair, looked at Batman sideways and said, "You look a bit like your father." He nodded and said, "...very much."

Before Batman could say anything, Falcone said, "I cleared out the major forces at the docks at that time, but I didn't take over the docks. Instead, I left them to the Edward family. This matter has something to do with your parents."

"Your mother is a good person, a kind lady. She sympathizes with the workers on the docks and thinks that they work too hard for more than ten hours a day. Your father agrees. They think they should treat those poor people better."

"So, they don't allow the gangs to oppress those workers, They were given a more relaxed work system. You know, they only have to take a break after working for a few hours, eat something and drink some water. "

"The Wayne family is determined to reform the order of the entire Gotham dock, but I know... I know."

"I know that they can't do this, but I don't want to fight the Wayne family, so I withdrew and let them do whatever they want."

"I let the Edward family control all the docks. The Edward brothers are smart."

Falcone lit a cigar, and the faint flames shone on his face. Under the sharp brows, a dark shadow was cast, covering his eyes. You can still vaguely see the appearance of the young godfather who was a powerful figure in that era.

"So, it was Edward who hired the gangster named Joe to kill my parents?"

The smoke from the cigar slowly floated up, and Falcone's speech speed began to slow down, as if the memories were getting more and more distant and unclear.

"You mean the real ones? No, not them, not Edward."

"The real one was a dock laborer named Louis."

"Laborer?" Batman felt very absurd, he asked: "Why? How could it be a dock laborer?"

"I know you can't figure it out, the Waynes helped them, yes, the laborers don't have to work so long every day, being oppressed by gangsters and cargo ship owners, they found their savior..."

Falcone shook his head and said: "But you don't understand, the laborers are also divided into different levels, carrying sandbags and heavy objects is the most tiring work, in the past it was the lowest level of laborers who did it, the big workers only did some work such as allocating manpower, It was an easy job to count the supplies. "

"Your parents wanted to make sure that no one worked hard. No one did the dirty work. The cargo ship owners took too long and lost a lot of goods. They would rather take a long detour than come to the Gotham docks again."

"I remember... that Louis was... the chief engineer of the third or fourth dock. He was closely watched by the Wayne family and had to assign the same work to everyone. They could only work nine hours a day and had to rest for two hours in the middle to let them eat."

"The cargo ship was parked there, and no one moved the goods. The fresh produce and fruits on it went bad. The cargo ship owner asked Louis to pay for it, but Louis couldn't afford it. He was beaten up by the cargo ship owner and sailors and his leg was broken."

"So, he hired that thug to kill the Waynes?" Batman's voice was hoarse as if he had fallen to the bottom of the valley.

"He turned to old Edward for help, and together they committed the murder on Park Street."

"You must find it ridiculous that Judas betrayed his Lord and made his benefactor suffer." Falcone said.

"...But this is Gotham, a place where even the devils have to take a detour."

Batman closed his eyes. The truth was completely different from what he had imagined.

This was not a story of entanglement and confrontation between the perpetrator and the innocent. There was no justice that could be achieved at a glance.

Everything was not white walls and black shadows, but an old faded gray videotape with thick dust from that era.

"The thugs and Edward brothers who did it are dead, but Louis is still alive. If you still want revenge, go to No. 7, the end alley of Grace Street on the east side of the church. He lives there."

After speaking, Falcone exhaled the last puff of smoke and closed his eyes.

His fingers were well-maintained, with almost no wrinkles. The cigar between his fingers had burned out, and the flame gradually went out, as if silently putting an end to that boiling era and all the waves of that turbulent era.